Pushy train passengers free woman stuck in gap

AP , Associated Press

Jul. 22, 20139:29 AM ET

TOKYO (AP) — Dozens of Japanese train passengers pushed a 32-ton train carriage away from the platform to free a woman who had fallen into the 20-centimeter (eight-inch) gap between the train and platform during the busy morning rush hour Monday.

Norihiro Shigeta

Train passengers and railway staff push a train car in their effort to rescue a woman who fell and got stuck between the car and the platform while getting off at Japan Railway Minami Urawa Station in Saitama, near Tokyo, Monday morning, July 22, 2013. A Yomiuri Shimbun photographer who happened to be there said there was a big applause when the woman in her mid-30s, who fell to her waist, was safely rescued without any serious injuries. About 40 people helped the staff who were pushing the car upon hearing an announcement that a passenger has been trapped. (AP Photo/Norihiro Shigeta, Yomiuri Shimbun) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

Train passengers and railway staff push a train car in their effort to rescue a woman who fell and got stuck between the car and the platform while getting off at Japan Railway Minami Urawa Station in Saitama, near Tokyo, Monday morning, July 22, 2013. A Yomiuri Shimbun photographer who happened to be there said there was a big applause when the woman in her mid-30s, who fell to her waist, was safely rescued without any serious injuries. About 40 people helped the staff who were pushing the car upon hearing an announcement that a passenger has been trapped. (AP Photo/Norihiro Shigeta, Yomiuri Shimbun) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

The act of heroism was captured by a newspaper photographer, whose photo of the rescue ran in the Yomiuri daily's evening edition.

A public announcement that a passenger was trapped prompted about 40 people to join train officials to push the carriage, whose suspension system allows it to lean to either side, according to the Yomiuri newspaper, Japan's largest daily.

The unnamed woman in her 30s was then pulled out uninjured to applause from onlookers at JR Minami-Urawa station, just north of Tokyo.

TOKYO (AP) — Dozens of Japanese train passengers pushed a 32-ton train carriage away from the platform to free a woman who had fallen into the 20-centimeter (eight-inch) gap between the train and platform during the busy morning rush hour Monday.